 |
| FishTails |
Federation Meeting Notes from Feb 4, 2001
- The DNR will no longer require a measurement on bass over 14" in length. Fish only need to measure 12-inches
if there is a question. Any tiebreakers will be broken by the weight of the biggest fish. Everybody's biggest fish
will be weighed, but this should speed up the weigh-in process immensely.
- Results of the 2000 B.A.S.S. Federation tournaments show 97.49% of all bass caught were released alive. This
is a tremendous statistic and a credit to efforts to take care of bass after they are caught. Anglers in all tournaments
should strive to take extreme care of all fish.
- The DNR and B.A.S.S. are working together to publish a set of basic guidelines for improving the handling of
fish. There have been many discussions in recent months about post-mortality. Concerns have lead to a growing desire
to educate fishermen and tournament directors about proper handling of bass in the livewell and during tournament
weigh-ins. The DNR hopes to have the guidelines published and in the hands of tournament organizers and participants
soon.
- The 2001 Buddy Trail will include changes in weigh-in procedures. Only ten-bags will be provided to bring fish
from the boat to the scales. The marked bags will be the only ones accepted and those waiting to weigh-in must
keep fish in aerated tubs provided at the weigh-in sight. The effort is to keep fish from being held too long in
line and suffering stress inside the weigh-in bags, or worse lay on hot pavement. Personal bags will NOT be accepted
at the scales, all fish MUST be in a bag provided by the tournament.
- All W.V. Bass Federation clubs must turn in their club tournament creel reports by the deadline this year.
Any clubs failing to get the forms into the Federation on time will have all members of the club banned from participating
in any Federation events in the following year. Creel census forms have been slow in coming and some have never
been turned in. Hopefully this will show the urgency of meeting the deadline.
- There will be a special effort at Buddy Trail, Qualifiers, and the state Tournament this year to have an emergency
boat on the water. The boat would be located at the weigh-in sight and the tournament director would have a cell
phone. In the event of an emergency, the boat could be sent to pickup stranded anglers once contacted. The boat
would be from a volunteer not participating in the tournament.
- The Federation Board is working on enforcement of some standards for boats entered in the Qualifier and State
Tournament. Boats that are not in good working order and are not well maintained will not be allowed form competition.
The discretion of the Federation remains unsettled as to what will be considered. However, growing complaints from
non-boaters who are forced to fish from sub-par boats are prompting some standards to be recognized. Among the
standards would be batteries fully charged, a motor that works dependably, and boats in good working order for
fishing.
- Since the off-limits rule has been lifted, there will be no restrictions on tournament waters with regard to
locking. There is one exception on the Monongahela River. Tournament boats may not lock through Point Marion to
the Pennsylvania section of the river.
- The Federation Board is considering the creation of an annual awards banquet. The first thought is to have
the gathering at the Flatwoods Days Inn. There would probably be no more than a ten-dollar charge per person to
help cover expenses and the Federation would pay a large portion of the banquet as well. The board is looking for
input on what members would like to see and how many people would be interested in attending.
- West Virginia Bass Federation members can now get a vanity e-mail address through the Federation. The address
would be "yourname@wvbass.com". The cost will be five-to-ten dollars for the name and would have all
e-mail to that address forwarded to your personal e-mail address. Anyone interested should contact Web Site Administrator
Jim Matuga.
|
|
|
|
